The Celtics — now 4-0 in these playoffs in the game immediately following a loss — made 20 shots from 3-point range to Miami’s 10. Game 3 is Saturday in Boston.
His team was down by 10 in the opening minutes, and Boston coach Ime Udoka was making no effort to hide his level of disappointment.
His message was simple.
“Wake up,” he told his team.
Oh, they listened. And the Eastern Conference finals are all knotted up, the series about to shift to Boston with the Celtics now holding the home-court advantage.
Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown had 24, and the Celtics went on a huge first-half run to roll past the Miami Heat 127-102 on Thursday night in Game 2 of the series.
“Guys have pride and looked at a golden opportunity that we lost (in Game 1) and thought we could do much better,” Udoka said. “And we did that tonight.”
Smart was a rebound shy of a triple-double after adding 12 assists and nine rebounds.
Grant Williams scored 19 points for Boston, which used a 17-0 run late in the first quarter — fueled by five 3-pointers in six possessions — to take control. Payton Pritchard and Al Horford each had 10 for the Celtics.
“We were pretty confident,” Pritchard said.
Jimmy Butler had 29 points in 32 minutes for Miami, which fell to 7-1 at home in these playoffs. Gabe Vincent and Victor Oladipo scored 14 points, and Tyler Herro added 11 for the Heat.
“These only count as one,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s what the experienced players in the locker room and staff understand. We don’t like it. They played extremely well. You have two excellent teams, and we have to figure some things out.”
“It’s a loss, whether you lose by one or 20,” Vincent said. “It’s regrouping; go back to the drawing board and get ready for Game 3.”
And the margin could have been worse: Boston led by as many as 34 points in the fourth, putting this game on the cusp of excellent Celtics history and terrible Heat history. The Celtics’ record for the biggest postseason win ever is 40. The Heat’s record for the most significant postseason loss ever is 36, and those numbers were within reach before a meaningless Miami run over the final moments.
Boston trailed by 10 in the first quarter, then outscored Miami 60-21 over the next 18 minutes — a 39-point turnaround leading to a 70-45 halftime lead.
The Celtics’ 25-point halftime lead was the biggest in any road playoff game, topping a 22-point edge at the break at Chicago in 2009.
“They came out,” Heat centre Bam Adebayo said, “and hit us in the mouth.”
Brown had 11 points in the first quarter when the Celtics went 9 for 11 from the 3-point range. Tatum then had 17 points in the second, and Boston kept pulling away on a day where everything went the Celtics’ way. They learned earlier in the day that two starters — Horford (virus-related issues) and Smart (mid-foot sprain) — were cleared to play in Game 2 after missing the series opener.
“I got to rest, get my health back, watch and see some things, and come out and execute in this game,” Smart said.
